The #AskFarrakhan Social Media Townhall Q&A, Pt. 2

[Editor’s note: The following article is a continuation of excerpts from the first-ever “#AskFarrakhan Social Media Townhall Q&A” which was webcast live from The Final Call Administration Building in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, September 26, 2012. Moderated by The Final Call newspaper’s Assistant Editor Ashahed M. Muhammad, this forum allowed people all over the world via the social network mediums of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, the opportunity to pose questions on any subject to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan for him to offer his perspective and guidance. This article is comprised of only a small number of the questions posed to Minister Farrakhan that evening, and we encourage you to order this historic event in its entirety on DVD and CD. Don’t forget to follow Minister Farrakhan on Twitter: @LouisFarrakhan.]

Ashahed Muhammad (AM): Brother Minister, we now have another YouTube question that was submitted to us from Sela out of Accra, Ghana, who was asking about “AFRICOM,” and “Barack Obama”: “Greetings to Louis Farrakhan. My name is Selah from Ghana, Accra. There are many policies taken that are not popular in Africa [such as the] invasion of Libya, and so on, and I want to know your take on Obama’s Administration from seeing what he’s been doing so far. Thank you very much.”

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan (HMLF): Unfortunately, “AFRICOM” is part of a design of the United States government to influence the direction of Africa; because China and Russia have beaten America “to the punch” in Africa.

China invited every African leader on the continent to Africa, and made promises to them—since China has trillions of dollars; and, America owes China a lot. China’s using that money to help develop Africa. That is what Muammar Gadhafi was doing with the billions of dollars in oil revenue that Libya was receiving. “AFRICOM” was a design to destroy the influence of Russia and China in Africa. And they started, first, by killing Muammar Gadhafi; destroying his Revolution.

To those of you who are listening:

• Brother Gadhafi invested $400 million to put up a satellite, because every time we called Africa, we had to go through Europe. But because of that satellite, which had another $100 million invested from other African nations, when you called Africa you called direct, and Africa saved $500 million every year.

• Brother Gadhafi was putting $80 billion in an “African Development Bank,” so that African leaders could bypass the “IMF,” and the “World Bank,” and borrow money from what Gadhafi was setting up at very low interest rates!

• Gadhafi was going to set up in the island of St. Kitts, which is the birthplace of my mother, a bank in which he was going to deposit a $1 billion so that the Caribbean leaders would bypass the World Bank, the IMF; and borrow money at low interest.

Well, who does that ill-affect? That ill-affects the “international bankers”—the blood suckers of the poor. So they felt that it was a “necessity” to get rid of Gadhafi. And as long as Gadhafi was there, AFRICOM could not find a home in Africa—they were in Europe! But after Gadhafi was gone: AFRICOM is there; American soldiers are there; [and] America’s interests now are being established.

And what does that mean? Did you know that all of the minerals that would keep a nation like America powerful in the 21st Century are found in Africa! So if America has a presence in Africa, and can suck the life of those minerals out of Africa, America can remain a “world power.”

It’s all about “economics.” And it’s all about “power.” And any Black man, or a Black leader that stands in the way of their access to what they feel are “their interests,” they get rid of that man.

AM: Our next question comes from Miss Baldwin out of New York, who asks: “What are your thoughts on the events related to the film ‘Innocence of Muslims?’”

HMLF: There’s so much that I could say on that, but I don’t want to make a “lecture.” There’s nothing that that film could do to really besmirch the image of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, in the hearts and minds of 1,600,000,000 who love him.

You know, the “disrespect” of Europeans, and others, for The Holy Qur’an such as flushing it in the toilet, or urinating on it: That does not diminish The Power of The Word that is in! It only manifests the ignorance of those who say and do such things. In fact, when I was in New York at the dinner held by the Iranian government and people, I was asked by a member of the press how I “felt” about these current events; and, “Why aren’t the American Muslims protesting like we see in the East?” I did not want to be disrespectful, but the scriptures teach that: “As God rises the sun in the east, in the Latter Day He would cause the sun to rise from the west.” “Guidance” is coming, now, from The West.

We did not respond in such manner, because as we are taught, Allah Says in The Qur’an: “Let not hatred of a people incite you to act unjustly.”

Well now, if somebody writes something negative about The Prophet, does that mean I have to “stone” innocent people, burn down buildings, and become destructive? That’s not “the answer”! “The Answer” is: When somebody manifests ignorance, you teach The Ignorant; then they’ll act better.

In the time of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, there was a young follower of The Prophet, and he needed to relieve himself; and so he urinated in the mosque! So when The Companions of The Prophet heard it, they wanted to go and beat him up; and The Prophets said to his Disciples: “Oh… Go and take some water and wash away the urine. And then teach your brother, and he will do better.” Well, to me, people that disrespect The Qur’an are not necessarily the “unbeliever”—the worst disrespect of that Holy Book is done by Believers themselves.

Who is “worst”: “Somebody that urinates on The Qur’an?” “Somebody that desecrates the image of The Prophet?” Or, those of us who say we “love” him, and then fail to follow his guidance?

AM: Thank you Brother Minister. Our next question comes from Barbara Strikes from Montana: “In regards to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, why is Israel always playing ‘the victim’—and America is a sucker for it?”

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Photos: Hannibal Muhammad

HMLF: I think that’s a wise strategy for them to play “the victim,” and make everybody think that they are “the victim.”

In one of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s articles he says that “America goes abroad, meddling in the affairs of other nations, starting trouble; and then blaming them for attacking her.” So that’s “The Way of The Wicked”: They come to kill you…so they always have to justify evil by putting “the blame” on the person that they just victimized.

But this Way of The Wicked is on its way out, now. Soon, and very soon, you’ll see all of that coming to an end.

AM: The next question comes from Eric Powell via YouTube: “As-Salaam Alaikum, Minister! I’m Eric Powell; I’m 15 years old, and I’m from the D.C. Metropolitan area. I basically want to seek some advice from you: Me and my peoples, we started a movement against gentrification and segregation within the city of D.C., and, we want to do that via ‘Black nationalism,’ and teaching our people about ‘unity,’ ‘self-determination,’ ‘cooperative economics,’ ‘starting up our own business,’ and basically just ‘doing for self.’ We have a lot of great ideas on how we can do this, and what our approach can be; especially on how we can appeal to our generation through the arts, music, poetry, [etc.] It’s just that we’re having a hard time finding a ‘starting point’ that would be most effective for our initiative. So that’s my question to you: How should we begin our approach?

HMLF: Thank you, Brother Eric. Your question encourages me greatly, because as a young man thinking like you think, that means that The Work of the future is better than our past.

Now, when you start: 1) You always have to start with people of “like minds.” And once you look at how you think, then find people in Washington that think like you—male and female. 2) Then you have to look, now, at what your community needs; and, what you can supply. 3) Then, reach into your pocket and see if you have any money to invest. 4) And if you don’t have any money to invest, you have to find somebody in the community—that believes in your idea; and you ask them to invest.

But you know what? If you all pool your resources, and then think of a business that the community needs, that is setting a good example!

To all of us: If look at our communities, this young man is on point… When I was in New York recently, I went through “Chinatown” where every house, every business and all the banks were owned by the Chinese! But then I went into Harlem, and I saw a Chinese restaurant; then, when I looked down the street, and I saw Asian-operated businesses that sold “hair weaves.” And I looked further, but I didn’t see too many “Black businesses.” Well, if we are not supplying the needs of our own community, you cannot blame others for coming to supply us with what we’re not supplying ourselves! But the problem is: With the money that we give them, they take it back to build their communities, while our communities are going down.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said: “Pool” our resources intellectually and financially; and, start with six or eight persons of like mind—and don’t break apart! So, Brother Eric, brothers and sisters: Put your money together! Put your ideas together! Start your business, and watch other young people gravitate toward that idea. And before you know it, son, you’ll have a whole lot of young people “dotting the landscape” with all kinds of businesses.

And before you know it, we will have “self-respect,” and others will come and respect you for doing something for yourself.

AM: Our next question is from Solomon out of New York who says via Twitter: “I’m pushing for a repeal or replacement of the 13th Amendment. Do you any thoughts on this?”

HMLF: The 13th Amendment, as well as the 14th Amendment, made us “citizens.” But the 13th Amendment has a sentence in it that states we are “citizens as long as we do not commit a criminal offense.” This means that the when a Black man is convicted of a felony, his citizenship is gone, and the rights of a “citizen” goes: The right to vote goes, the right to a decent job to feed your family goes…

So when you get caught with a little crack cocaine, they use that as a “felony”; a certain amount of reefer is now a “felony”; when they take our young people to “stop and frisk” them, and they find you with a gun, that’s a felony! Add on “resisting arrest,” they trump up so many charges on you, and before you know it you’re imprisoned! Then, you become a slave again; back into slavery in what they call the “prison industrial complex.” This is real; and so, many of our young men and women are being deprived of their citizenship—so-called citizenship—under that part of the 13th Amendment.

But I’d like to ask this: They never asked us, when we came out of slavery, whether we wanted to be citizens. So maybe before you change the Amendment, let’s wake our people up and ask them—since they don’t have nothing else for us to do, and there is no future for us, why don’t we ask them to let us go, and give us a good sendoff? And that’s what the scripture teaches about The Children of Israel: That God had already promised them a land flowing with “milk and honey.” This isn’t talking about some time in the past, that’s now! So we need to think about these things, because right now your citizenship rights are violated—you are violated!

There’s no future that America has planned for us; even for the poor! If you notice throughout this whole presidential election, the focus is on “the middle class”! The Middle Class… Well, who is that? That isn’t the people I’m walking out in the street to meet, because: That’s the poor! That’s the homeless! And they are those who live in shelters! Who will look after them?

And if government won’t, then I would have to say that as we work to put out a modern update of the book A Torchlight For America, I think instead of just “a torchlight,” I would like to hold up my arm as the new “Statue of Liberty,” beckoning: “Give us your tired, your poor. The huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Send these, the homeless, tempest, tossed, to us, because we will be lifting our lamp beside a Golden Door…”

If they don’t have anything for our people to do, give them to us: We know we can change them into a reality that will cause you to “tip your hat” out of respect to them when you see them! We’ll make something out of our people! Just tell us the truth: That you don’t have anything for us anymore!

So then let us go, and let us do something for our self!

***

On October the 14, 2012, the 17th Anniversary of The Million Man March, we’re going to address in segments topics such as: “The Economy of America,” “The Economy of the world,” “Israeli-Palestinian relations,” “The Blockade on Cuba”—everything that is affecting America and the world, we want talk about it because there are things that Black people want the president address.

And in a second term, I think President Obama should address “The Condition” of our people: The homelessness, the poverty, the fratricidal conflict… We can’t allow the president not to think about the people that have put him in the position of power. But we would be wrong to expect the president to run on a “Black Agenda”—that’s not for the “president of the United States,” that is for us, Black leaders, Black teachers, to come together on an Agenda that will lift our people. However, our president can create the atmosphere that would allow an Agenda For Our People to take place. So we want to put “a little pressure” where it should be applied, weeks before the vote that will decide who will serve the next term in office. And I would hope, and pray, that all of us will do our part to make sure that this next election will be as we desire it to be.

But should our brother win, the disappointment will be so great on the other side of a polarized nation, that I would warn us: Celebrating that victory would be celebrating on top of the hate of those who have built up such a hatred for our Brother, and a Black family, in The White House. It will be dangerous for us, but God will guide us to come through this dangerous hour.